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About Seaside signal. (Seaside, Or.) 1905-current | View Entire Issue (April 27, 2018)
SEASIDESIGNAL.COM OUR 112th YEAR • April 27, 2018 GOING DOUBLE DUTCH! A A competitor performs before the judges during a jump rope tournament in Seaside. COLIN MURPHEY/SEASIDE SIGNAL cross the hardwood floor of the Seaside High School gym on Saturday, April 21, teams of double dutch jumpers showed their stuff as judges stood crouched nearby. Ropes, arms and legs moved at break- neck speed as jumpers relied on strength and finesse and pullers maintained steady control of the ropes. This was the fifth year of the Oregon Coast Invitational in Seaside, featuring three teams from Washington, one from Ar- izona, one from Montana, along with the host Tsunami Skippers. “It’s all about the turners,” Tsunami Skippers co-founder Stacey Dundas said. “You have to be very much in control. Usu- ally if the jumper misses, it’s because of the turners, not the jumpers.” By R.J. Marx Seaside Signal Speed is timed by the number of jumps per minute, as judges keep pace using clickers, count- ing how many times the right foot hits the floor for 30 seconds, a minute or three minutes. “You only count the right foot,” Dun- das said. “You could never click quick enough for both feet. It takes practice. It’s harder.” Oregon Coast Classic Dundas has jumped since fourth grade and started the Tsu- nami Skippers with Shannon Carey in 2004 as a nonprofit to give kids an alternative sport that would help young people learn teamwork, the benefits of exercise, self-control, self-confi- dence and respect for others. Over the past 13 years the Skippers have performed at el- By R.J. Marx Seaside Signal Seaside’s Planning Com- mission unanimously gave the go-ahead to the new Sea- side School District campus in the Southeast Hills. The $99.7 million campus, ap- proved by voters in Novem- ber 2016, is expected to be- gin construction June 1. “It is a significant mile- stone for us that now we can proceed with our planning and begin the process of starting construction,” Superinten- dent Sheila Roley said after the Tuesday, April 17, public hearing, the district’s third after two continuances. “We were able to have some good conversation with the com- missioners and resolve any concerns that came up.” Expansion plans PAID PERMIT NO. 97 ASTORIA, OR PRSRT STD US POSTAGE The district came before the commission requesting a conditional use permit to au- thorize the master plan and development plan for the new campus in accordance with the city’s zoning code. The permit allows expan- sion of Seaside Heights Ele- mentary School and establish- ment of a new middle school and high school facility. Commissioners considered plans for elementary school play areas, a track and athletic practice field, a secondary ac- cess drive, stormwater treat- ment, expanded parking areas and bus access. The district also identified areas that could be used for a future water storage reservoir and pump station. Planning commissioners and school district officials agreed to negotiate a propor- tional payment when cost de- tails are available. A memorandum of under- standing between the city and the district will detail the dis- trict’s financial responsibility for improvements. Road impacts Commissioner Bill Car- penter sought a commitment from the school district to re- pair roads that could be sub- ject to damage during the con- struction process. According to a revised con- struction management plan, more than 11,000 heavy trucks will be used in construction. This represents the damage done by the equivalent of nearly 75 million passenger See Skippers, Page 7A R.J. MARX/SEASIDE SIGNAL Malory Dundas and mom Stacey Dundas, co-founder and coach of the Tsunami Skippers. May start planned for convention center reno Campus milestone With approval, district readies to put shovels to the ground ementary school assemblies across Oregon and Washington, half-time shows and parades of all kinds. This year’s squad features 30 members, ranging from sec- ond- to 12th-graders. The season runs January to June, with two to three practices each week. Malory Dundas, 11, started performing at age 3. Ella, 9, enjoys playing piano when she’s not jumping rope. Alona Whisenhunt, 11, prac- tices at least twice a week for “a couple of hours” each day. “I really enjoy working with different people and learning different things,” Alona, 11, said. Alona, a Gearhart Elemen- tary School fifth-grader, also car trips on Spruce Drive during the 14-month peri- od of heavy construction, Car- penter said. Repairs to Spruce Drive could come from Seaside’s urban renewal funds, school district attorney Kelly Hos- saini said. “We are committed to doing what is necessary in respect to Spruce. The district is not planning to walk away from that. I think the district and staff will be able to work something out.” Conditional OK Commissioners unani- mously voted to grant the permit with the condition that any major changes be brought before the commission or staff. Major changes identified by the staff or the district will be brought to the Planning Commission for review. After the meeting, Noelle Idehara of Hoffman Con- struction Co., said the com- mission’s decision allows the district to move forward. “We still need to work through our permitting for the site work piece of this, but this will allow us to start moving for- ward,” she said. See Campus, Page 6A South County contractors play big role in $15M project By R.J. Marx SEASIDE CIVIC AND CONVENTION CENTER Seaside Signal Construction begins in May for the Seaside Civic and Convention Center ex- pansion project. At Monday’s City Coun- cil meeting, councilors ap- proved O’Brien and Co. LLC to become construction manager/general contract for the project. O’Brien will begin some demolition and drywalling next month, the center’s General Manager Russell Vandenberg said. The project will add about 10,000 square feet to the 62,000-square-foot facili- ty, and renovate more than 13,000 square feet of the space. Construction is bud- geted at about $11.1 million, a guaranteed maximum price. Fees for fixtures, furniture, equipment, utilities and oth- er expenses are budgeted at $3.7 million, with a $291,000 contingency fund. The total project cost is $15 million. There could be change orders during construction for improvements or more scope. “But I won’t be com- ing before you unless it’s for a change order for part of the design that we’ve approved,” Rendition of the convention center after expansion and renovation. ‘… local subs and crews will have a lot of pride in this project, helping to build what I hope will be the nicest building in town.’ Jason Stegner project manager Vandenberg said. In 2016, Vandenberg said the convention center need- ed additional space and up- grades or the city risked los- ing convention traffic. Plans were developed by Holst Architecture and Con- vergence Design of Kansas City for the contract to design the renovation and expansion the center, built in 1968. The renovation and expan- sion is to be paid for by an in- crease in the city’s room tax, from 8 percent to 10 percent. Bonds for the project went out for sale in November. “It’s a great honor for me to be a part of this project,” project manager Jason Steg- ner of O’Brien & Co. Archi- tecture told members of the council. Seventy percent of con- tractors are local, he added. “That’s pretty amazing for an $11 million project.” Arcade Concrete, Gale Insulation, Coastline Roof- ing, DC Drywall, Glasco, Velazquez Painting, Terry’s Plumbing, Diamond Heat- ing, Inland Electric, Sandy’s Nursery and Clean Sweep. “I hope you recognize some of those names,” Steg- ner said. “They’re also ex- tremely excited to be part of this project. Those local subs and crews will have a lot of pride in this project, helping to build what I hope will be the nicest building in town.” The project will take 12 months to complete, Vanden- berg said, with a targeted com- pletion date of spring 2019. For Latino families, a program for college readiness Seaside School District families, students benefit from college prep program By Katherine Lacaze Seaside Signal Ensuring one’s student is ade- quately prepared for post-second- ary education can be daunting for any parent or guardian. The Juntos program’s six-week college readi- ness workshop — taught entirely in Spanish — aims to provide local Latino families with the right in- formation to support that process. Ryan Stanley, the coast coordi- nator for Juntos, offered through Oregon State University, said the biggest benefit is showing students and families “what’s possible, es- pecially living in a smaller com- munity.” Mari Mitchell, a longtime edu- cator in the Seaside School District who retired two years ago, and Le- ticia Campos, a teacher at the Can- non Beach Academy, facilitated a Juntos workshop for Latino fam- ilies in Seaside that wrapped up Tuesday, April 24. Over the course of six weeks, participants learned about preparing students for higher education, from high school grad- uation requirements and standard- ized testing to the admissions pro- cess and obtaining financial aid. At its core, Mitchell said, the course is about giving parents and their students “the keys to be able to open the door to higher education.” When preparing students for college, many parents and guard- ians face a language barrier, which SANDE BROWN Leticia Campos, a facilitator for a six-week college readiness course, during a class See Juntos, Page 6A April 17 held at Seaside High School.